Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,720,000 shares, an increase of 8.3% from the December 31st total of 5,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Fortrea Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of FTRE opened at $15.67 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Fortrea has a twelve month low of $15.53 and a twelve month high of $41.02.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.02). Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 2.00% and a negative net margin of 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $674.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.86 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fortrea will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W cut shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup lowered Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Fortrea from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.30.

Insider Transactions at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $203,274.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 159,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,884,018.72. This trade represents a 6.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTRE. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the third quarter worth $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Fortrea by 102.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortrea in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Fortrea by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.